


swept away

by markothy



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Fluff, Gen, JOHNNY SEEMS REALLY SKETCHY AT FIRST BUT PLEASE BARE WITH HIM, but johnny saves him, doyoung and hyuck are brothers and show up next chapter, johnny is a mer, lapslock, mark cries a lot and almost dies, mark is a human lifeguard, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 06:15:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15723642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/markothy/pseuds/markothy
Summary: johnmark au in which mark is a lifeguard in training and johnny is a merman but johnny gets too close to a human beach one day so mark & the other lifeguards on duty think he’s a human drowning.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi i wrote this in kim (@feb9ths)'s dms a while back and only got around to posting it now. considering its origin, please bear with me afsdf i tried to clean it up as much as i could, but i didn't have anyone else read it nor did i edit it so wow yeah here it is
> 
> there's a chapter 2 to this (which i'll post whenever i get it typed up), i just wanted to get this one out ASAP you feel me??

johnmark au in which mark is a lifeguard in training and johnny is a merman but johnny gets too close to a human beach one day so mark & the other lifeguards on duty think he’s a human drowning.

“mark, you’re the closest,  _ go _ !” his senior lifeguard yuta yells from higher up the beach.

however, mark only realizes that johnny _ isn’t _ actually in any distress at all and definitely  _ not _ human when he gets smacked in the face by johnny’s tail. and then, suddenly, _ he’s _ the one floundering around in the water. mark’s thrashing stops as he regains his composure, only to find the creature, johnny, just simply staring at him with definitely not human eyes, gently holding mark’s head above the water with his tail and a normal human hand to mark’s forehead.

obviously, though, mark does the only thing he knows to do in this situation:  _ freak the fuck out _ . except johnny has a pretty strong hold on him with his tail, so the mer holds steady and keeps mark from squirming out of his grip. the thing is, though, johnny has  _ no idea _ how to handle this situation either - sure, he’s seen humans, from far away and from kinda-sorta close, but never had he  _ ever _ been  _ this _ close. the mer only has limited knowledge from what he’s observed of human activity, and certainly not enough to calm a screaming, young adult version, but the situation was dire and he had to do something. 

mark, whilst struggling to remove himself from the creature’s grip, kicking at the tail holding him hostage and screaming various profanities, hears a noise resonate from the mer’s throat. it’s a deep sound, deep enough to register in mark’s brain as intense vibrations that ebb through his body. it has a calming effect, but mark is too out of his mind in fear to fully succumb. the mer, frustrated, clicks his tongue and resorts to smacking the human in hopes of stopping the noise. playing the bongos with his face, mark would describe it. they’re gentle pats, but strong enough to leave a sting after every smack, until the mer’s webbed hand discovers mark’s mouth where all the irritating noise is coming from. 

the noise, though, doesn’t stop, no - it only becomes louder and more frantic, as do the human’s attempts to escape. johnny finally realizes he himself is falling into a panicked state - he doesn’t want the commotion to alert the others on the shore. one screaming human, johnny firmly believes, has proven to be enough of a pain. several screaming humans, discovering a mer who accidentally might’ve startled one of their young? johnny didn’t even want to imagine it, so he grips the thrashing human as close as he can to his chest and swims until his heart threatens to burst. 

the mer ends up taking the boy to a secluded alcove just south of the human beach and lays him out on the sand. the boy had fainted from the shock, so johnny is left alone, distraught, and with a stolen human in his care. letting the kid go like this would cause too much trouble, he has to clear this horrible misunderstanding, but with the limited human language he knows -

mark screams bloody murder as he finally shakes awake, kicking up sand as he tries to scramble away from the mer - hell, he might as well be an  _ alien _ to mark. but before he can get out of reach, the mer is clamping down on mark’s ankles and hauling him back towards the water.

“get your fucking hands off me!” mark shrieks, struggling against the mer’s grip yet again, voice hoarse from all the use its getting today. “let me, god, let me fucking  _ go _ !”

immediately, the mer’s human-like hand shoots out and mark expects another sting, reflexively closes his eyes, waiting for the impact, but there’s nothing. he opens his eyes just in time to see the mer send a couple of gentle taps to his forehead, leaving him cross-eyed trying to watch, and suddenly, all of his squirming comes to an end. mark goes completely quiet, lips struggling to move, to vocalize, eyes bugging out of their sockets, and he’s obviously still terrified but it’s subdued, body and mind forced to relax, from whatever the fuck the mer just did to him. focusing closely on the mer looming above him, he swears he can see him mouthing something.

johnny moves a hand from the boy’s ankle to make some kind of gesture, but mark isn’t having it because he’s already moving his leg, hoping he has enough strength to sweep his other leg from the mer’s grip, but here comes his hand again -  _ tap tap _ .

his body goes limp, completely motionless. fuck, mark can’t move anymore. he hears the mer’s throat emit an irritated gurgle.

“well, what the fuck do you want from me?” mark questions helplessly.

johnny does everything in his power and knowledge to form human words, but he just ends up pointing to himself and crackling out, “not human.”

“i definitely figured that out,” spits mark. “hey, can you maybe let me go now?”

the mer complies, but mark still can’t move. 

up until this point, johnny had been resting half-beached on the shore with his lower half still in the water, but he quickly gets annoyed with this position and hoists himself out of the water, tail and fins suddenly gone and replaced with two very human legs. the mer grabs mark under his arms and hoists him up over the shoulder so he can move them further up the shore, away from the water. mark, at this point, being helpless to do anything else, just quietly seethes through clenched teeth.

johnny sets the boy down and looks at him again, with human-looking eyes this time, and says, “uhh, firstly, don’t panic.” his voice sounds crackly and severely unused, because, well, he hasn’t used this form in a while.

mark rolls his eyes, thinking, fucking really?

but the mer continues. “secondly, yes, i am a mer, this was all an accident, please don’t report me to your fellow species.” after a pause, seemingly waiting for the kid’s reply, johnny realizes he never unbound him, so with a couple more taps to the forehead, mark is given back his freedom of movement.

well, movement of his mouth, at least. with a couple tries, mark still can’t seem to move his legs. the mer nods, a gesture assumedly pressing mark to speak, so he does. he word vomits everything he’s been wanting to say the entire time he’s been muted - a long, long, long list of expletives, holy shit, what the  _ fuck _ was that, who the fuck are you,  _ what _ the fuck are you, why am i here, why did you take me -

johnny tries to make his irritated gurgle again, but he’s in human form, so this time it just sounds like awful throat clearing, and quickly rambles through answers. “like i already said, i’m a mer, you thought i was a human drowning, when you saw what i was you panicked, took on water, and passed out, so i took you here so you wouldn’t drown.” the mer takes a second to eye the boy’s lifeguard uniform, a red t-shirt still soaked through entirely from earlier. “isn’t that what your kind is supposed to do?”

“wh-,” mark splutters. “don’t be a fucking dick right now, you  _ stole _ me!”

the mer ignores that comment - he has no idea what a “ _ dick _ ” is, he only knows words he’s gleaned from passing humans, and that was never one of them.

“anyway, how can i trust you?” mark continues. “how do i know you’re not gonna drag me off and eat me or something?”

the mer rolls his eyes and scoffs. for the first time in their entire encounter, johnny raises his voice. “mer don’t eat humans, they taste too much like the dust they walk on.”

“ _ how the fuck would you know that?! _ ” 

“it was a  _ joke _ , human. i’m joking with you.” the mer smirks back at him.

“i- well-,” the human grumbles. “whatever, just let me go!”

johnny sighs. “unfortunately, human, i cannot release you from your bonds just y-,” mark wails, thrashing as much of his upper body as he can, but the mer simply clamps a hand down on the human’s mouth and yells over him. “since you surprised me, the spikes on my tail injected your leg with venom!”

“you  _ what _ ?!” the boy stops wailing, color draining from his features. immediately, mark is looking down at his leg for the first time since this whole thing began, and, well, it’s a sickly purple.

this poor kid is on the verge of tears, and he looks back up at johnny, trying to struggle away, and from what johnny sees, he’s not looking angry anymore, just looks wounded and scared, and he weakly cries, “wh-what the fuck, why is it purple, what did you do to m-”

“i’m so sorry,” the mer mumbles under his breath. tap tap.

mark’s body freezes again, excluding the neck up, so he can still breathe and talk, and tears just stream down his face now, his head is screaming and he’s just so fucking tired and scared and Do Not Want. but the mer is brushing his hair away from his eyes and looking at him with his own fakely human eyes, and his voice is so soft this time when he whispers, “you need to listen to me, little human. i am not here to hurt you- i mean- i  _ have _ hurt you, but it was a mistake, and i’m truly sorry. that doesn’t matter, though, because your leg has my venom in it - my venom is fast-acting and fatal. if you do not let me neutralize the venom, which only  _ i _ can do, you will end up more hurt, or worse.” he then pauses, searching mark’s face for a response, but mark is just.

he can’t really move, so it’s not like he can protest, even if he wanted to, but god, the lump in his throat gets bigger and the tears are brimming and spilling down his cheeks even more. “i don’t want to die,” he says, barely audible.

“you won’t, little human, please let me help,” johnny whispers back. after a pause, mark gulps down his fear and nods, so johnny gets to work.

gently, the mer picks up mark again, princess style this time, and brings him back down to the water’s edge, wading back into the water after he’s set him down.

“h-hey,” mark squeaks. “where are you g-”

“human, my healing abilities only work in my real form.”

the boy goes quiet and watches the mer shift back into, well, his mer form, mark assumes, though nothing really changes on the top half of him. then, johnny’s turning around and beaches himself on the shore again, tail half in the water and torso half laying on the shore. the sand feels gross against his scales, johnny thinks with a grimace, but there isn’t much of a choice right now. the mer reaches out and holds mark’s leg steady with one webbed hand as the other- well, the other starts to glow.

it’s not spectacular, not eye-piercing like the sun’s reflection off a car side-mirror; the pattern of blue-green pigment that speckles his hand and forearm just begin to shine with a simple, weak bioluminescence. johnny, as gentle as he’s been throughout, hovers his glowing hand over the midway point of mark’s leg, and even if he can’t move, mark can definitely feel the warmth radiating from the glow.

johnny’s eyes flicker up to mark’s face, probably gauging his reaction in some way, so their eyes meet for a split second, and oh, god, mark doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to that chilling pair of mer eyes looking deeply into his own. but just as quickly as it happened, johnny must’ve gone back to doing whatever it is with his hand because a bolt of pain shoots up his spine and mark shrieks, startling himself and the mer, but johnny recovers quicker.

the mer locks his jaw and furrows his brow in deadly concentration as his hands, never touching the boy’s skin, just simply hovering, glide away from the center up towards mark’s knee. as he does, the purple tinted venom seems to just… lift from mark’s skin like ink from paper. the purple in the affected skin fades as johnny’s hand passes, and mark’s not really sure how that works but he can’t be bothered to care because it’s so fucking painful. his teeth are clenched and he’s pretty sure his lip is bleeding from how hard he’s biting it to keep from screaming but it proves pointless anyway as the pain rips more agonizing sounds from him.

if he wasn’t in so much pain, he’d honestly be enraptured by the sight of it, the venom being extracted from his skin to sink into the mer’s own skin. it couldn’t have been more than 15 minutes until he was seeing his own, normal, sun-kissed skin again, the venom having been totally lifted from his skin, his bloodstream. johnny pulls his hand away, and the purple ink-like venom just seems to be saturating his own skin now, but before mark’s eyes, the venom begins to seep out and form a liquidy ball of plasma around the mer’s hand. then, it starts to swirl, faster, faster, and even faster yet until there’s a loud pop. suddenly, the ball of venom shatters into millions, billions of tiny pieces, flying off in every which way, scattering with the wind and falling to the water like glitter. and mark feels no more pain.

johnny’s hand, the blue-green glow of his hand fading, is shaking and the mer lets go of mark’s leg, bringing his other hand up to wipe the sweat away from his forehead. he turns his attention to mark again, and tap tap.

mark’s limbs fall from their static position as he’s finally able to control his body again, but he just kinda lies there, half propped up, staring at the mer who’s currently staring back at him. he can definitely feel the tear trails cooling under the touch of sea breeze blowing against his cheeks, but he’s not crying anymore. his fear and anger have left his body behind to be filled with just… pure amazement instead. ‘what the fuck just  _ happened _ ? how did you  _ do that _ , you literally made it disappear into  _ thin air _ , what the  _ fuck _ ?’ is what he wants to say but instead, he just kinda babbles out a, “u-uh, thank you.”

the mer smiles fondly at him and reaches out to fix his hair again, and this time, even though he definitely could’ve, mark doesn’t find himself wrenching away from the mer’s touch. “it is no trouble, human, just another ability the light has gifted me with.”

“uh, y-yeah, whatever that means.” mark coughs, averting his gaze to thoroughly observe their surroundings for the first time. “just. glad i didn’t die, y’know?”

johnny’s smile never wavers, lips curling and eyes forming happy little crescents. “of course, human,” he purrs.

mark moves to get up, but his legs are a little shaky, so he ends up getting half way only to fall back down again to his butt. “i, uh-,”

“yes?” the mer quirks a brow, but his face nonetheless remains pleasant.

mark finds himself taking a shaky breath, just as shaky as his own legs. “what- well, what do i call you? i don’t want to just call you ‘that mer,’ that seems… rude.”

another pleasant purr radiates from the mer’s throat, smile returning to johnny’s lips. “Of course, human! my name is-!”

what comes out of his mouth next, though, makes absolutely no sense to mark.

“c-come again?”

johnny laughs. “that is my name. but i understand it is difficult for humans to say, so you may call me johnny.”

mark thinks it over for a second, then, just… bursts out laughing. johnny looks at him quizzically and mark just, “all  _ that _ translates to  _ johnny _ ?”

they both laugh for a long, long time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally, part 2! if you thought the last part was soft, wait til you finish this one!!!!!

after ensuring mark had no further injuries from their fateful encounter, johnny swims him back just close enough to the beach for mark to reach the shore comfortably and far enough to not be seen by the search party that’s gathered there. by now, it’s just after dusk, the sun having bled its last pinkish-red half an hour ago. mark has done a lot he thought he’d never do today, so walking up to his own search party shouldn’t be that big of a deal, right?

wrong.

as soon as yuta, one of his senior lifeguards, spots the boy casually walking into the circle of light cast by their maglites, he’s rushing him, not sure whether to hug him and never let go or to beat the living hell out of him.

“mark lee, what the _actual fuck_ -,” the senior lifeguard screams, basically running mark over with the force of his incoming hug-choke. behind yuta, mark can see jaehyun, another senior lifeguard, and yukhei, fellow lifeguard in training, trailing behind him with matching concerned faces.

“you had us scared shitless,” jaehyun gasps, openly worried. “yuta even cried-,”

the aforementioned, who yukhei has forcibly detached from mark, makes a noise of betrayal. “nuh uh, i-,” yuta sniffs loudly, wiping away sloppy tears that only prove jaehyun’s point. “i didn’t fucking cry!”

“what happened out there?” yukhei asks softly, usually loud and boisterous, resting a hand on mark’s shoulder. his coworker, the same age as him, actually, looks him dead in the eye and mark swears he looks like he’s aged 30 years since the last time he saw him - was he that worried?

the gravity of the scene hits mark like a tidal wave. how was he supposed to convince his coworkers that he’s _fine_ after they literally watched as he was sent to save a victim only to be whisked away without a trace for 6 plus hours? so, mark, instead of lying, lamely fumbles over his words, “i wish i could tell you, but-,” and then he sighs. “i really, really can’t. not yet, at least.”

the three crowding him look at him in utter disbelief, but they’re too scared to press mark for more information. thankfully, to mark’s luck, they drop it.

•

fast forwarding to the next week, where we find mark, while on duty, perched atop his lifeguard’s chair, beginning to see the familiar, obnoxiously long shape of johnny rise up from the depths just beyond the buoyed perimeter of the beach’s swimming area. at first, mark doesn’t know what to think of it - he doesn’t think it’s necessarily bad? he’s not entirely scared of johnny anymore, not after how their first encounter had ended, it’s just… mark has never even met another mer before, let alone made acquaintances with one.

so, he sighs and calls over yuta, whose currently slinking around the first aid shack they call HQ. mark asks yuta to sub in for him, fakes him out by saying he has to take an important call. yuta, fortunately, nods and slaps hands with mark (as if to literally trade off the position), but not until he takes his underling into one of his “playful” chokeholds, pinch-pulling his cheek and mumbling something about “today’s youth, always slacking off,” as if that’s not what he was just doing moments before. mark can only holler out his thanks - to which yuta gives a middle finger and childishly sticks out his tongue - before he’s sprinting down the beach. a glance out to where he last saw johnny, mark sees just a shadow of a tail heading off in the direction of that same alcove from before.

and that’s where mark meets him, at the end of each and every shift that week.

mark doesn’t think it’s weird, really - other than having to meet the mer at a specific place, their little alcove, every single time. in fact, spending time with johnny just becomes a… well, regular occurance. however, as weeks pass, mark notices something change - johnny’s been getting a lot more touchy with every visit. i mean, that’s great, mark thinks - he’s glad the mer is getting comfortable with his presence. but there’s also occasions where, when mark has days off, doesn’t come to the beach like usual, that’s all he hears about the next visit - “where were you? why didn’t you visit?”

it’s at this point mark thinks something odd is going on. so, one night, while texting his best friend, donghyuck, he mentions it.

**[00:07]** _morkly:_

hey what time is ur bro off work tomorrow 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
> 
> ┏┓  
> ┃┃╱╲ In this  
> ┃╱╱╲╲ house  
> ╱╱╭╮╲╲ we love  
> ▔▏┗┛▕▔ & appreciate  
> ╱▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔╲  
> brothers johnmark  
> ╱╱┏┳┓╭╮┏┳┓ ╲╲  
> ▔▏┗┻┛┃┃┗┻┛▕▔
> 
> if you made it to the end, thank you so much! as always, i encourage comments & feedback!! and if you wanna talk or yell at me, my twitter is [here](https://twitter.com/shiiningfive) and my curiouscat is [here](https://curiouscat.me/shiiningfive)!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hi i totally forgot to post this last part so HERE YOU GO

  **[00:07]** _morkly:_

hey what time is ur bro off work tomorrow

 **[00:09]** _dongFUCK:_

sometime after 3 i think??

 **[00:10]** _dongFUCK:_

y tho (￢_￢)

 **[00:12]** _morkly:_

nothing i just wanna talk

 **[00:13]** _dongFUCK:_

pls don’t ever use that in a serious context again i beg u

so mark pays a visit to hyuck’s brother, dongyoung, who just so happens to be a marine biologist.

through hyuck, he actually ends up finding out dongyoung’s been working after hours lately, rarely coming home because of some lab-wide project he’s been stressing over, so mark drives over to dongyoung’s lab after a shift at the beach (and a visit with johnny), since it’s not too far from mark’s university (it’s a part of it, in fact).

he enters dongyoung’s office where the older is holding his head, papers and folders stacked high on every available surface of his desk, and mark just. “h-hey? uh, you got a minute, hyung?”

dongyoung, though, is so thankful for some kind of distraction from his work, so mark finds himself being dragged up to the roof of the facility where they find a quiet spot to lean against the guardrail and watch the ocean view. dongyoung nurses a tiny juice box while mark nervously fidgets with his jacket.

“so, about merpeople,” mark finally speaks up.

dongyoung all but chokes on his apple juice. “ _excuse me_?”

“i _said_ , about merpeople,”

“no, i definitely heard that part, but what the _fuck_?”

this causes mark to sigh, temporarily thinking about giving up and going back home. “is it that weird?”

dongyoung takes another sip of his juice box. “considering they don’t interact with humans, like, ever, yeah.”

"well…” mark goes back to fidgeting with whatever contents he has in his pockets. “don’t you study marine things? isn’t that your job? don’t you have information about them?”

“i never said we didn’t have information on them, mark lee,” dongyoung points his juice box accusingly. “i said it’s weird to be talking to one, if that’s what you’re going to tell me you’ve been doing.” mark’s expression must’ve tensed, though, because dongyoung softens. “it’s not impossible, though, it- it happens!” the scientist backpedals. “there’s been several cases of interactions, _thoughmostwerereallyviolent_ but definitely absolutely some more peaceful ones h-here and there!”

mark doesn’t answer aside from a grunt, so dongyoung presses further. “did... did you encounter one?”

“uh, yeah… i think i made friends with one? he stung me in the leg first, th-,”

“he _what_?” now dongyoung does choke on his apple juice, coughing and pounding on his chest before composing himself. “mark lee, how the fuck are you standing here?” the scientist looks admittedly shocked and starts patting mark’s general body, as if to make sure he’s actually there and not some spectral vision.

mark shoves him away with a shoulder, “yeah, dude, i’m fine, he healed me up fine-,” and dongyoung is choking again, interjecting with a _“WHAT?!”_ but mark is having none of it. “nothing bad happened and he’s kinda just been… h-hanging around? so i think we’re friends?”

dongyoung can’t really seem to get over his obnoxious shock, so mark sighs frustratedly. “listen, i don’t even know why i came here,” he spits, pushing away from the railing to walk away. “this whole situation is fucking crazy and-,”

“ _waitwaitwait_ , you’re not going anywhere, mark lee,” the scientist is backpedaling again, faster than before as he grabs at mark’s collar. “i’m sorry, i’m just blown away hearing this-,” dongyoung then exasperatedly knocks on mark’s head. “h-hello? anyone home? is this real life?”

mark swats him away. “fucking cut it out, i’m serious.” he yanks his pant leg up and shows the puncture wounds, still healing from the encounter, acquired by johnny’s tail, and dongyoung’s jaw drops. mark is sure he hears a faint _“holy fuck…”_

once the marine biologist is over his initial shock, they’re back in his office. dongyoung sweeps everything off his desk because this mer business, in his opinion, takes utmost priority right now. when he sits back down, chair groaning underneath him, mark explains everything until dongyoung is simply nodding and staring off in thought.

“i think,” mark coughs, tugging dongyoung’s attention back. “he’s attached to me somehow?”

dongyoung raises a brow, asking an unspoken question.

“y-yeah, don’t quote me on this, but, he gets really anxious when we’re apart, and- and he’s been wanting to- touch me more? like, just- petting my head? playing with my hair? wanting to hug me? Yeah.”

dongyoung hums in amusement, thinking for a moment. then, a lightbulb goes off, and the scientist is diving into every drawer in his office until he finds a dusty file. “you’re right - he is attached to you,” he says, dusting off the folder.

“ _what?!_ ”

“not like _that_ , you nasty brat,” dongyoung rolls his eyes and continues, opening the folder and flipping through wads of notes piled inside. “but it’s true. it says it right here,” he says as his hands come to a stop, pointing at a single section of notes. “even from the limited accounts we have on mer, it’s a common occurence - a bond is formed, developed, and nurtured between a mer and its second party, if the circumstances are right.” mark must’ve made a noise because doyoung simply sighs, “i’m being serious. it’s something that’s been observed to happen between a mer and its kin, so most of my industry colleagues, including myself, assume its the same thing that forms between mer and its, well, its human.”

mark, not sure what to make of this sudden surge of information, sits there speechless, so dongyoung continues.

“say, you’re an only child, aren’t you, mark?”

mark nods.

“well, not anymore,” dongyoung quips with a grin, closing the manila folder with dramatic finality. “it seems you’ve been adopted.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed this last installment, i'm so sorry for updating this so late ♥
> 
> thank you to @jaepeach for actually reminding me to do so FDKNJD

**Author's Note:**

> if you wanna talk or yell at me, my twitter is [here](https://twitter.com/shiiningfive) and my curiouscat is [here](https://curiouscat.me/shiiningfive)!


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